Saturday, 5 August 2017

Historical Eros Cinema, Mumbai - a fine theater complex

Before independence, the Eros was one of Mumbai’s (Bombay) luxury cinemas and still remains a well-known cinema house today. Located in a prime area of the city, it was built in 1938 and in February opened to public. Its architect was Sorabji Keikhushru Bhedwar with internal decorations by Fritz von Dreiberg. It took two and half years to complete the construction work after the foundation stone was laid in 1935. The theater is a huge one and can accommodate roughly 1200 people per show.

Eros Cinema, 1938.Mumbai. en.wikipedia.org

An interesting fact about this old theater is it heralded the beginning of Back Bay reclamation in early 1938. Besides a theater, the building also has a ballroom and restaurant, together with apartments and shops. The unique feature of this building is it is an an Art Deco style cinema. The facade of the building exhibits fine Art Deco style work and rises in tiers like a wedding cake and is topped by a semi-circular tower.

Inside the theater, a large circular foyer finished in black and
white marble and the decorative Art Deco reliefs
of semi-naked female figures on the wall pillars are attractive and enhances the ambiance inside. Other features worthy of mention are marble staircases with chromium handrails connecting the t
upper floor and the murals a with muted colours depicting Indian
architectures. Partially faced with red Agra sandstone, this building is painted cream.Ref:

Lables

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I am KN.Jayaraman, Retd Geologist, author of this blog. I have a strong passion for Ancient Indian Culture, art, architecture, etc...
I started this blog with a view to covering the above areas and also odd things related to India.
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